Hospitals and doctors get a spiff for COVID-19 patients

It’s always nice to get a pay bump. But in this case we’re the suckers paying the bill. Are the number of infections and deaths related to COVID-19 inflated in order for the hospital systems to cash in because they can’t perform elective procedures? Hmmmm…

Hospitals and doctors do get paid more for Medicare patients diagnosed with COVID-19 or if it’s considered presumed they have COVID-19 absent a laboratory-confirmed test, and three times more if the patients are placed on a ventilator to cover the cost of care and loss of business resulting from a shift in focus to treat COVID-19 cases.

This higher allocation of funds has been made possible under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act through a Medicare 20% add-on to its regular payment for COVID-19 patients, as verified by USA TODAY through the American Hospital Association Special Bulletin on the topic.